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Peter replied, "Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will."

Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.

Commentary

What confidence Peter had when he said this to Jesus! How many times have we made proclamations that rival this when we feel inspired? Yet when we feel overwhelmed by our circumstances, we too, can buckle under the pressure. But pressure is God's way to reveal what is in our hearts. The good news is that even when Peter made this statement, Jesus knew what would happen. He was prepared to take Peter down a path that went past his bravado and into the reality of his soul. Peter's failure was already in God's providence - as was the forgiveness that Peter experienced from the resurrected Christ. Peter stands as a witness of how God shows us our heart so that He can heal us from our present condition and set us free from our past failures.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Commentary

Notice the Scripture states that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert. In ancient times, the desert is equated with a place incapable of sustaining life. Matthew (with Luke and Mark) is stating that Jesus was going into a place where His only hope would be in God. Notice that the journey into the desert was the first act of Jesus ministry after His baptism. Do you feel like you are in a wilderness? We may think that we are being set up for destruction, but God is training us to live a life of dependence upon Him and not our surroundings. This was the path of Jesus and we should not be surprised that this is a part of our journey as well.